Chapter 12 - The Rooftop Rescue and the Final Stand
We sprinted up the final flight of concrete stairs leading to the roof, pushing open the heavy steel door just as a chilly wind whipped across the open helipad.
Parked in the center of the concrete expanse was a dark twin-engine helicopter, its rotor blades spinning in a deafening, blinding blur.
Two armed mercenaries in tactical gear were dragging my father toward the open cabin door, his hands bound behind his back with plastic ties.
"Let him go!" I screamed over the roar of the engines, charging forward before my mother could pull me back.
Elizabeth drew her pistol, firing two precise warning shots into the concrete just inches from the lead mercenary's boots.
The mercenaries froze, dropping my father’s arms and turning to face us with their assault rifles raised.
"Drop your weapons or the old man goes over the edge!" the lead mercenary shouted over the deafening wind, shoving my father toward the precipice of the roof.
Julian stumbled, his eyes locking onto mine with a fierce, reassuring intensity as he shook his head slightly.
"Don't let them take the foundation, Maya!" my father yelled back over the wind.
Elizabeth didn't hesitate; she lunged forward with incredible speed, engaging the first mercenary in close-quarters combat while I ducked behind a ventilation unit.
I scrambled across the slick concrete, sliding underneath the tail boom of the idling helicopter and reaching the open cargo door where the pilot sat frozen at the controls.
With a swift yank, I ripped the emergency fuel cutoff lever down, killing the roaring turbines instantly and plunging the rooftop into sudden, ringing silence.
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The mercenaries dropped their weapons as my mother held them both at gunpoint, while I rushed to cut the ties binding my father's wrists.
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